“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Have you ever heard the phrase, “garbage in, garbage out”? It is a phrase that originated in the early days of computers and it was used to illustrate the idea that, because computers operate by logical practices and cannot think for themselves, if you put bad data in or sloppily program them – you will inevitably get faulty conclusions. In other words, the info you get out will only be as accurate as the info you put in.
The same can be said for our thoughts. If we focus on worry or negativity, guess what? We are going to see or experience worry and negativity in everything we do and in others, too! There is one significant difference between us and computers though. A computer can’t tell the difference between what is good information and what is bad – we can. We get to choose what we think about. Sometimes it might be difficult, but we can rely on God to help us sort through the junk and discard those thoughts. Ask God to help you to change your thought pattern to seek out things that will produce true, noble, pure, lovely and admirable qualities in you.
